Enough with the Horde losses! Or, if you are going to keep losing, do so consistently! Team Kinless for the win!

Rank 7 this week, Msaker picked up the Blood Guard gauntlets and boots. Perhaps next week, or so, he can reach Rank 8? I know he’s going to try. Shooting for a Greater Honor turn-in, he ventured forth into the BG’s last night. Alterac Valley. Three times. Three losses. There was a leader in the final one. A Tauren Warrior called Critaid (or something like that). Raging on how we should be doing it. He was wearing big [Bug Guy Pauldrons] so I figured “Hey, he’s leading. Let’s do as he says.” (Not that experience in AQ40 means all too much in AV. Nor the ZG Tiger Mount he was riding. Cows on cats. Sounds like the apocalypse is anear! But hey, in absense of any leadership, let’s listen to him.)

We did really well too. We actually took the Stormpike Graveyard before the Alliance got Frostwolf. And we raced across the bridge. For the most part I was alone in riding past the Aid Station flag into the graveyard. For the entire match 10-15 Alliance kept us at bay. Critaid was trying, shouting for heals, and we finally did get the Aid Station. Whew! Just as the Alliance kills Drek. (Sound effect plays here from Monty Hall’s Price is Right as the contestent picks the door with the booby prize behind it.)

ENOUGH! Of AV. So I journey into AB. I’m holding two AB Marks and only need one. Good thing since we got nearly 5-capped by the Alliance. What’s going on? All Horde just run around doing what they want. (Like Cartman. “Wahevea I do wa I want.” Damn school kids.)

Can it not be simpler: Clear directions to 1) Take Farm. 2) Take Blacksmith. 3) Take Lumbermill, preferably at the same time. Hold all 3, and no other, and defend with 2 permanently stationed at the flag and a mobile defense force. See Alliance whine that the LM, BS, and Farm are too close to our side. If they whine, let’s exploit that fact.

But, noooooooo. Can’t have it. Inevitably a couple ride down to the mines. We hardly ever get the Blacksmith. Then the fools who got the Lumbermill ride down and try to take the Stables. Sometimes they can, sometimes this just sets things up to get our butts handed to us.

Okay, now it’s four losses in a row. Into WSG. Argh!

Which we win. Go figure. We actually got somewhere for a change. Albeit it was 1-1 there for a bit, eventually we got the other two flags where they belong.

But, enough already. I turn in all my marks for a Greater Honor. And I log. (Defeat weighs real heavy.)

What’s going to cheer me up? Knight Arcarius comes to town. Signs up for AV. (Of course!) In the thirty to forty minute wait I have I head out to the Burning Steppes to grind on Dragon Broodlings and Kin in order to accumulate some Black Dragonscales. (I have recipes for Chest and Shoulders and I’m thinking the +AP on both will help pump up my steady DPS rate.) AV pops and I join.

Damn. Horde are defending Galv. Well, they’re late coming to his defense, but before Galv is down half way the Horde shows up and wipes us. Snowfall isn’t capped yet so I rez in Dun Baldar. No, no, no. That’s not how it’s supposed to be.

I ride out again, heading south. I’m almost caught at Stonehearth. There’s enough getting slaughtered trying to ride through that I escape with nothing more than a concussive shot to my back. We’ve given up on Galv and are now trying to take the Iceblood Graveyard. That’s right. “Trying.” We fail to. I die and somehow wind up in Dun Baldar. Okay. Let’s try some defense then. Stormpike Graveyard is about to fall.

But rather than being able to push out to recover it, the Horde are rolling in over the Bridge. And very aggresively. And there he is. I see the problem. Mr. [Bug Guy Shoulders], no doubt shouting for them to push, and calling for heals. Last I remember, before rezzing in the tunnel, is me trying to take him down as he climbed the hill into our graveyard at the Aid Station, his health refusing to drop too low. Good for him. Serious.

And, of course, bad for us. We have nothing to do. Nobody seems to be wading into the sea of red surrounding the SPGY. Our Offense… who knows. At this point you just think “Ah, well, from a 91% to a 90% win rate.) They win. Unheard of. But I’m glad to see Critaid (sorry I’m not getting your name right!) vindicated. Horde can win if they try, and follow the simple strategies. It’s not hard.

But, surely there is a win to be had for Team Kinless. (Another one, that is.) Arcarius reups and heads back out to the Steppes. Skinning a Broodling (black scale drops, thank you) AV pops. We rejoin.

It starts well enough. The usual. Galv goes down, then we take Iceblood. And then, shocking, the Horde is defending Frostwolf Graveyard. I mean, happily, they aren’t pushing north. But, shockingly, they are defending tooth, hoof, horn, tusk, and nail.

It was brutal. And then I spot my friend, Nachmahd. But he’s no friend of Aracarius, nor Draka, and so Draka goes to check out what Mulgore Prime Beef tastes like. I approach to drop a mana draining sting on him, and I think I do, but that’s too close for comfort and I meet my maker. Often.

I also blame him for this. This … defense. He’s probably shouting at them, because he’s smart, for a cowman, that defense works.

And the battle rages on. At long last we take FWGY. Does the defense melt? No! They back into the keep. The battle rages on the ramp leading to the big tower you passthrough. We fight through to that and the Horde retreat back behind their towers. They’re holding Frostwolf at all costs, including that of offense.

I did notice, a previous reincarnation, that they sent the Primalist out. As far as I know they never got Lok summoned. On the other hand we summoned Ivus, and the Forest Lord stalked up to the rescue. He cleaned house and we capped the Relief Hut flag. And then it was over. We pulled the Warmasters with few interruptions. There were no horde captures of anywhere in the north. Perhaps Stonehearth, but I’m thinking I didn’t even see that.

I think once Frostwolf was lost, and they’d put all their eggs, or cow pies if you will, in one basket, once the Alliance gnomes rode in and smashed all those eggs, they kind of gave up. An hour into the game, we took the Relief Hut. Sixteen minutes later we win. Whew. Over 200 Honor Kills. That was a hard fought battle.

Arcarius retired and Darkhand came out.

That’s right, my Night Elf Rogue. He’s been level 45 for what seems a year. Last night he dinged 46.

Not really sure what my plans are once Arcarius reaches level 60. He’s a soloist, not a raider. He prefers the outdoors to dungeons.

But do I see how far Darkhand can go? Does the Druid, Greenclaw, level 37 now, get some attention? What of my Alliance Warrior, Freewind, level 31? Horde on Team Kinless are Blackhoof and Msaker, “done” at 60. Darbanville is at level 27 now. And a Draenei Shaman and a Bloodelf Warlock, or Mage (I’m not sure now), yet to join. (12 character slots per server! Please!)

5 Responses to

My main made rank 5 (which was good, since I didn’t expect to get there from roughly 45% rank 4). My goal is rank 10 (yeah, right), but the gear upgrades would (will?) be very nice for ranks 7 and 8, and I would (will?) be quite happy to earn the Defilers and Frostwolf gear. I’d go for the Outrider gear but though I try I just don’t seem to enjoy WSG.

Yeah, I’ll admit it — I want the cool-looking rank 10 shoulders😛

And, Yes, agreed!Not enough time — yet I already spend too much time on WoW!

I, too, was heavy into PvP last night; three queue-ups to AB 50-59 then jump into AV to pass the time. Three times I was pulled out of AV into AB, and three wins in AB (/cheer for the Horde!) And a run into AV this morning for about 30 min before having to /AFK to go to work.

And as I went to bed last night I wistfully looked over my son’s shoulder as I told him goodnight — he was in Scholo… But I don’t have time to PvP AND run instances and AND level AND work on rep with X and Y and Z faction… with THIS character, let alone the alts!

Scholo. Strat. I envy your son too Doeg. When I was raiding I had no time to farm, and no time to PvP. That was okay because we were good raiders. And it was a fun time. Now, no more raiding so I can PvP. And still no time to farm. Legionnaire. Has a nice ring to it.

Hunter is a blast S4dfish. Beast Mastery serves me well in PvE (soloing the elite dragonkin in Burning Steppes) and we have fun in the BG’s. Draka is fond of clothies she can put her bestial wrath on.

Yeah, I’m looking forward to Scholo and Strat, but I’m told that no one will take a warrior until 60 (my son runs a 58 mage). And now that I’m on the brink of 60 (at 58), on the high end of the AB range, I’m not in any rush to get to 60 in greens-and-blues.

Hunters in PvP are a dichotomy. Playing a warrior and a druid, in a typical AB situation, if the pet is on me I’m probably dead. If the pet is on someone else, the hunter is probably dead (they’re awfully squishy for a leather-wearer). With my feral druid at level 39 (decent greens-and-blues, but not twinked) I loved to defend in prowl with someone visible defending the flag and see an attacking hunter commit the pet to the other guy — prowl past the pet and kill the hunter from behind, usually in less than 5 seconds, before they can change targets and do something to get me off (especially if they were on the low end of 30-39).In AV things are often such chaos I usually can’t tell what’s going on😛, but they do seem good in defensive situations, especially combined with mages dropping blizzards.

Ahhhh, those long AV games can be a blessing or a curse. If I have lots of time, then I love it when the Horde defends. I have no problem racking up three times as many HKs as normal.

Unfortunately, I seem to always get the long game when I really need the game to be quick. Oh well, at least the Alliance are starting to win some ABs (well, at least in my battlegroup). I hate only getting serious Honor out of one BG only.